Friday Travel Photo: Mindo, Ecuador

Our “Friday Travel Photo” comes from Kris Sanchez of Chicago. Here he explains his shot: “On a recent trip to to Ecuador we spent a lot of time in Quito, the country’s capital. We decided to take a day to explore the nature side that Ecuador is known for. A short 90-minute drive took us to the charming town of Mindo. From the winding roads — filled with tall trees and plenty of hummingbird sightings — we automatically got the feeling of being closer to nature. To begin our adventure we decided to take the most popular hike through Mindo’s rainforest. The guide gave us two options: we could take the shorter walk and see a few smaller cascades and some beautiful birds, or we could take the longer and more challenging walk down the rainforest to see the bigger waterfalls and cascades that he assured us would take our breath away. We made the decision to take the longer trail. After about two hours of walking and taking a cable car, which provided us with amazing views of the forest below us, we arrived to the most beautiful waterfall. We spent half an hour in front of it resting and taking a dip in the chilly waters. It was nature at its finest.”